Improvement in brick-machines



3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

I. MORLEY. Brick-Machine. No. 208,416. izgjtggted Sept. 24,1878.

N. Pzrms, PHQTO-UTH GRAPHER. WASKXHGTOH. D C.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I. MORLEY.

Brick-Machine. No. 208,416. Patented Sept. 24, I878.

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' 3 Sheets-Sheet 34 I. MORLEY.

Brick-Machine.

No. 208,416. Patented Sept. 24,1878.

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N. PEfERs, PHOTO-UTHOGRAPHEH. WASHINGTON, 0 C.

UNITED TATE'S ISAAC MORLEY, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT lN BRlCK-MACHlNES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 208,416, datedSeptember 24, 1679; application filed v September 13, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ISAAC MORLEY, of Pittsburg, in the county ofAllegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Brick-lllachines; and I do hereby declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings,'forming part of this specification, inwhich- Figure 1 is a plan view of devices embodying my invention. Fig. 2is a section on the line v c, Fig. 1, looking in the direction of thepress-roll. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 10 10, looking in thedirection of the supplemental press or molding devices. Fig. 4 is asection on the line y y. Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are diagrams illustrating theoperation of the devices.

Like letters refer to like parts wherever they occur. I r

My invention relates to the construction of machines for the manufactureof bricks, tiles, and like articles.

It consists, first, in combining, with thepressrolls of a brick-machineand its endless jointed belt, a continuous belt of leather, rubberfabric, or like flexible material, arranged upon the jointedbelt-carrier or connected bottom boards in such manner as to prevent thedefacing of or formation of marks on the continuous strip of molded clayby the joints of the main carrier; secondly, in so combining a flexiblebelt, of leather, rubber fabric, or its equivalent,

with the jointed endless carrier or sectional bottom board, and with thereciprocating cutting-carriage of a brickmachine, as to provide acontinuous support for the molded strip from the forming to the cuttingmechanism, and also to protect said strip from mold-marks; thirdly, incombining, with the forming mechanism for forming the continuous stripof clay, and with the cutting mechanism for severing the strip intoblocks, a carrier for receiving the cut sections and sanding-rolls forsanding the cut ends of the sections; fourthly, in combining, withmechanism for forming a continuous strip of molded clay and cutting thesame into sections, a supplemental mold and press for giving a finalmolding or shaping to the article; and, finally, in details ofconstruction hereinafter more specifically set forth.

This invention pertains especially to that class of continuonsly-actingbrick-machines wherein the brick, tile, or like article is severed froma continuously-molded strip. It embraces several features, which may besaid tobe improvements on Letters Patent N 0. 203,736, granted to me May14, 1578, and other features, which can be readily applied by theskillful mechanic to other classes of brick and tile machines now inuse.

I will now proceed to describe my invention, so that others skilled inthe art to which it appertains may apply the same.

In the drawings, A indicates a suit-able bed or foundation, on which Ierect a frame or housing, B, for the pressure or molding devices thatform the continuous strip. These devices may consist of the press-roll Dand flanged roll 0, provided with pinions and geared to move in unison,and an endless belt composed of hinged bottom boards, together withpulleys for carrying the same, as specified in my patent before recited,or may be of other approved form, if preferred. The cutting mechanismfor severing the strip into sections may consist of the reciprocatingcarriage or truck E, which receives its motion from a pitman and pulley,the uprights F for the hanger H, which carries the saw 71, and cams foroperating the hanger and saw, for a more complete description andillustration of which reference is made to the patent before cited, asonly so much of the mechanism is here introduced as is requisite to showthe improvements since made and enable the present invention to be fullyunderstood.

With such or similar devices Inow combine a loose belt, I), of leather,rubber fabric, or

other material of a flexible nature, arranging the same upon and toinclose the jointed bottom boards, so as to present a uniformly evensurface to the under side of the molded strip, whereby a perfectly plainsurface is insured on the molded strip of clay; and, in order to form anextensible support between the reciprocating cutting-carriage E and themolding mechanism, I continue the belt over a roll or pulley, b, on thesaid reciprocating carriage E, leaving sufficient slack in the belt toaccommodate the motion of the carriage. The

weight of the belt I) itself will, in most cases, be suffieient to keepit taut upon the bottom boards, Ste. 5 but, if deemed desirable, aspring tightening-pulley, or a tightening-pulley controlled by aweighted lever, (easily understood and constructed by a skilledmechanic,) may be employed for such purpose.

0 indicates a frame, arranged to inclose the endless belt as it leavesthe strip-pressing mechanism, and interposed between said mechanism andthe cutting mechanism. In this frame 0 are journaled sanding-rollers 0,so arranged as to bear lightly upon the sides and top of the strip andin order to supply sand to the rolls 0, a series of sand-boxes, 0 are arranged on the frame 0, so that the rolls 0 traverse the same.

K represents a second frame, erected on the bed A, preferably at rightangles to the frame B, and adjoining the same, wherein is arranged asecond endless belt, K, of jointed sections, carried by suitablepulleys.

Between the reciprocating cutting-carriage E and the endless belt ofjointed sections are arranged a series of three or m ore smalltransfer-rolls, I, usually provided with a belt, 1, one of said rollshaving its shaft extended and provided with a pulley, as at Z Mounted inthe frame K are two pulleys adapted to runfaster than thetransfer-pulleys, which latter pulleys carry a belt, m, whose functionis to receive the cut section from the transfer-pulleys l and separatethe sections the desired (liStil-UOG. The shaft of one of the pulleys ofthis belt or apron m is provided with a second pulley, from. which adriving-belt passes to the pulley on the extended shaft of thetransfer-pulleys.

J ournaled on theframe K are two more sandinga olls, 01, provided withsand-boxes a and so arranged as to sand the cut ends of the bricks orsections severed from the continuous strip.

N indicates a traveling mold-carriage, which carries the re-pressing orsupplemental moldin g devices, said carriage either provided with atruck or adapted to slide 011 rods or waysn' as preferred, andreciprocated by a pitman, M, from the pulley of the belt K. The bottomsn of carriage N, on which the belt K rests and over which it travels,may be solid and move with the carriage, or it may be dispensed with,and rollers independent of the carriage substituted, as indicated bydotted line, Fig. 4.

The sides or frame of the carriage may be provided with cleats of,forming guideways for guide-bars 0, and on the said frame are pivotedthe lever of the shifting-arm p and the lever of the plunger '1', whilethe mold is caused to move with the mold-carriage N by means of verticalcleats s, which may also be constructed to constitute the ends of themold S.

The frame K for the endless belt K, of jointed boards, is extended, asat L, to afford bearing for a friction-pulley, which rests on belt K;also, to provide camways for actuating the shifting-arm, supplementalmold, and

mold-plunger, which devices are employed for finishing the article, andwill be next described.

indicates the shifting-arm, whose function is to transfer the brick fromthe cross-belt m to the belt K, for which purpose the shiftingarm isadapted to'rise, fall, and traverse, is provided below with afoot-piece, p, and is secured above to the end of a lever, 19 pivoted onthe carriage or moving frame N, the opposite end of lever 12 beingprovided with a loose or sliding pin, which rests alternately in one oftwo cam slots or grooves, 19 p, the first slot, 11 being straight for adistance, at its highest point, in order to keep the foot 12 of theshifting device near the belt for so much of its travel as is necessaryto sweep the brick off belt m onto belt K. Then it is inclined down, soas to lift the foot 1) and cause it to pass over the brick, and finallyis made straight, to retain the shiftin g mechanism in its elevatedposition until the end of the travel in that direction, said cam slot orgroove shallowing at its extremity, so as to push the sliding campinacross into the straight slot p which keeps the parts elevated duringthe entire return-stroke. The cam-slot 19 also shallows abruptly at itsforward end, to transfer or push over the pin into a vertical extensionof the first cam-slot, p whereby the lever p ascends and the foot 17 ispermitted to descend into position for again commencing its travel.

The brick, tile, or like article is thus swept onto the belt K, whichcarries it into the mold S. This mold S is composed of the two sidepieces, 8 suspended from a yoke, 8 and acting in conj unction with twoend pieces,s, which latter are fixed to theframe, so thatwhilethesidepieces of the mold can rise and fall to receive and dischargea brick,tile, or like article, the mold as a unit moves with the carriage N. Inorder to actuate the mold, the yoke s is attached to one end of a lever,8 which is pivoted on the frame or carriage N, the opposite end of saidlever .9 being provided witha sliding or loose cam-pin, which restsalternately in one of two grooves, s and 8 whose general forms andfunctions are the same as the cam-grooves 19 19 before described,excepting that the groove 8 is so shaped at the point indicated by* asto force the mold firmly down on the belt K during the action of theplunger. The mold moves through a given space in contact with belt K,rises, and moves through the rest of its travel in its elevatedposition, and falls or sinks into its original position, the same asspecified for the shifting mechanism, and substantially in unisontherewith. The weight of the mold will usually be sufficient to cause itto descend into position at the end of its return travel; but, if foundrequisite under any circumstances, the drop of the mold may be insuredat the proper time by means of a sliding weight, 3 on the lever 8 tindicates the plunger, which works in the mold S, said plunger securedto a lever, t pivoted by one extremity to the carriage or moving frameN, and provided with a sliding cam-pin, which rests alternately in oneof two grooves, t t, the former of which, t consists of two straightsections, in the same plane, united by a V-section, so that the plungeris held up for the first part of its travel to insure the seating of themold, then depressed to compress the clay in the mold, and finallyelevated, in which latter position it is retained by the straight groovet during its return movement. The cam-grooves t t are shallowed abruptlyat opposite ends, as before specified, for the purpose of shipping thesliding cam-pin. The free end of the plungerlever t is weighted to therequired pressure, as indicated at t.

it represents a frictionroll, adapted to rest on the belt K in suchmanner as to cause said belt to take its motion from the driving-pulleywhen it is not clamped by and moving with the mold and mold-carriage.This roll a is journaled in a frame, U, movable in slots to in frame L,and the parts will In, general be sufficiently heavy to insure theirproper action but, if desired, springs or weights can be added.

R represents a fiy-wheel, arranged on the driving-shaft of the pulley ofbelt K, said wheel having for its object to equalize the motion of beltK and the re-pressing or supplemental molding mechanism.

10 represents a belt, by means of which the reciprocatingcutting-carriage can be driven from the strip-molding mechanism to 20to, belt and gearing for imparting motion to the endless belt K, themold-carriage N, and the re-pressing mechanism; but other means forimparting motion thereto may be employed if desired.

The sections for the endless belts I prefer to construct as shown inFig. 8that is to say, one end rounded, as at or 00, with cavity y, andthe other slightly concave, as at z, with knuckle or projection e, as byso doing a close and even surface is preserved.

To obtain the best results, the mechanism for molding the continuousstrip should be adapted to form the same somewhat scant in width-sayone-sixteenth of an inch less than the width desired in the finishedarticlethe cross-belt m, for shipping the article from the cuttingmechanism onto belt K, should run at least twice as fast as the belt ofthe strip-mold ing mechanism, so as to effectually separate the cutsections, and the belt K should exceed in speed the speed of belt m, soas to separate the cut sections sufficiently far to insure the properaction of the supplemental mold or re-pressing devices.

The position of the cut section on the belt K so that it shall registerwith the mold S can be insured in several ways-first, by the relativeposition and travel of the shifting devices, and, secondly, by attachinga gage to the front of the mold S, as indicated. by dotted lines, Fig.4.

The dimensions of the parts are not herein given, first, because theywill vary with the size and nature of the article molded, whether brickor tile, and may be varied at will by the skillful mechanic, who canreadily compute the relative size of pulleys and travel of belts andmolding devices required to obtain any given result.

The operation of these devices is as follows: The belt I) of thestrip-molding mechanism being kept supplied with sand and clay, fedthereto in front of the press-rolls O D, said rolls will mold the clayinto a continuous strip rectangular in cross-section and scantin width.As the strip of clay thus molded passes between the sanding-rollers cthe latter, which receive moisture and motion from the clay strip, willgather sand from the boxes 0 and apply it to the strip, so as to sand itthoroughly on the three exposed or unsanded sides. The strip passesthence onto the cutting-carriage, where it is severed into sections bythe cutter or cutters t', and said sections are pushed by the advancingstrip upon the transfer-rolls I, which deliver the sections to thetransverse shipping-belt m. This belt m, running at a higher rate ofspeed than the belt l, separates the sections, carrying them forwarduntil each in its turn comes in front of the shifting-foot p, when thelatter sweeps it off from belt m onto belt K. The movement of belt Kcarries the section (or article) between sandingrollers n, which, actingin like manner to rollers 0', sand the cut ends of the sections. At thispart of the machine it is desirable that a workman should be stationedto correct the position of the (brick) cut section with relation to thebelt and mold S; but such. is not absolutely necessary, as the shiftingmechanism p, or a gage on the mold, can be so adjusted,

as before specified, as to almost invariably effect the same result.

When the leading section or article upon the belt K has come intoposition beneath the mold S, the mold descends, inclosing the section,which is scant. The plunger 1 is then brought into operation, and forabout onethird or one-half the travel of mold-carriage N the section issubjected to a re-pressin g or final molding, after which the devicesrise simultaneously, releasing the completed article, which is carriedon by the belt, and can be removed from the machine while the carriagemakes its return movement. The sliding campins of the shifting-lever pmold-lever s and plunger-lever t moving in the straight slots 19 8 tkeep the several devices elevated until the close of the return movementof the carriage N, when the sliding cam-pins are pushed across into thecam-slots p s 13 and the several operations of shifting a section frombelt m to belt K, and pressing and discharging an article, are repeated.

The advantages of my machine are the rapid and perfect manner in whichbricks, tiles, and like articles can be formed, the few hands requiredto operate a machine, and the uniformity of the work produced.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, 1s-

1. The combination, with the endless jointed sectional belt or bottomboards of a brickmolding machine, of a supplemental belt of continuousfabric, such as leather, rubber, or its equivalent, substantially as andfor the purpose specified.

2. In a machine for forming bricks, tiles, 850., the combination, Withmechanism for forming a continuous molded strip of clay, of a series ofsanding-rollers provided with suitable supplyboxes, said rollersarranged around and partly Within the path of the feed and with relationto the supply-boxes, so that they may be operated by the molded strip,and will take the sand in limited quantity and apply it to the moldedstrip, substantially as specified.

3. The combination, in a brick-molding machine, of the press-rolls, theendless sectional belt of bottom boards, the continuous belt of leatheror equivalent material, and the reciprocating cutting-carriage,substantially as and for the purpose specified.

4. The combination of the cutting-carriage, the transfer rolls and belt,a shipping-belt, such as m, and a transverse sectional belt, such as K,arranged and adapted to operate substantially as and for the purposespecified.

5. The combination of mechanism for molding a continuous strip of clay,mechanism for cutting the strip into sections, a sectional belt forreceiving and separating the sections, and a series of sanding-rollersfor sanding the cut ends of the sections, substantially as specified.

6. The combination of a shifting device, end- I less belt or bottomboards, and a mold and plunger adapted to traverse, with mechanism formolding a continuous strip of clay, severing the same into sections, anddelivering it to the shifting device, substantially as and for thepurpose specified.

7. The combination, with the sectional traveling bottom board, of themold-carriage and mold -plunger and the shifting device, the wholeconstructed substantially as described, and the plunger mold andshii'tin g device adapted to be operated simultaneously by cammechanism, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I, the said ISAAC MOR- LEY, have hereunto set myhand.

ISAAC MORLEY.

\Vitnesses:

R. H. WHITTLESEY, F. XV. BITTER, Jr.

